NCERT 8th Class (CBSE) Social Science: The Judiciary

Question: What is the role of the judiciary in our country?

Answer: The Role of the Judiciary in India: The work that judiciary does can be divided into the following:

1. Dispute Resolution: The judicial system provides a mechanism for resolving disputes between citizens, between citizens and the government, between two state governments and between the centre and state governments.
2. Judicial Review: As the final interpreter of the Constitution, the Supreme Court also has the power to strike down particular laws passed by the Parliament if it believes that these are a violation of the basic structure of the of the Constitution. This is called judicial review.
3. Upholding the Law and Enforcing Fundamental Right: The citizens of India can approcah the Supreme Court or the High Court if they believe that their Fundamental Rights have been violated. For example, Hakim Sheikh, an agricultural laboourer who fell from a running train and injured himself and whose condition got worse because several hospitals refused to admit him. On hearing his case, the Supreme Court ruled that Article 21 which provides every citizen the Fundamental Right to Life also includes the Right to Health. It, therefore, directed the West Bengal Government  to pay him compensation for the loss suffered as well as to come up with a blueprint for primary health care with particular reference to treatment of patients during an emergency.

Question: Write a brief note on the independence of the judiciary.

Answer: The Judiciary of India is an independent body. It is separate from the Executive and Legislative bodies of the Indian Government. The Executive and Legislature, that is the Central and State Governments, cannot interfere in the work of the judiciary.

The courts are not under the government and do not act on their behalf.

Judges in the High Court as well as the Supreme Court are appointed by the President with very little interference from the other branches of the government. It is also very difficult to remove a judge from his post.

Question: What is the ‘appellate system’?

Answer: An appellate court, commonly called an appeals court or court of second instance is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In most jurisdictions, the court system is divided into at least three levels: the trial court, which initially hears cases and reviews evidence and testimony to determine the facts of the case; at least one intermediate appellate court; and a supreme court which primarily reviews the decisions of the intermediate courts. A jurisdiction’s supreme court is that jurisdiction’s highest appellate court.Appellate courts nationwide can operate by varying rules.

The authority of appellate courts to review decisions of lower courts varies widely from one jurisdiction to another. In some places, the appellate court has limited powers of review. “Generally speaking, an appellate court’s judgment provides ‘the final directive of the appeals courts as to the matter appealed, setting out with specificity the court’s determination that the action appealed from should be affirmed, reversed, remanded or modified’”.